Apprehensions remain over the smooth conduct of the ODI and T20 series against England as none of the host associations have given written assurances, as demanded by the Lodha Committee, about staging of matches. On Wednesday, the Lodha committee had directed Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) CEO Rahul Johri to obtain written assurance from the state associations that there will be no disruption in organising the matches.

However, none of the associations have responded and it is learnt that a former BCCI office bearer and his executive assistant have spoken to the associations and advised them not to submit the written assurances.

The first match of the series, a One-day International, will be hosted in Pune on Sunday, which falls under the aegis of the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) of which former BCCI secretary Ajay Shirke, removed from his post by the Supreme Court, was the president before the reforms were implemented.

“Why should we give such an undertaking? We have decided not send any undertaking. The Supreme Court appointed committee wants to run day-to-day cricket, so be it,” a member of the state association said.

Johri had also written a letter to the state associations asking them to submit a list of office bearers who were eligible as per the norms laid down by the Lodha Committee. This was following a direction from the committee’s secretary Gopal Sankaranarayan.

Johri had written, “You are requested to forthwith submit to the BCCI a list of new office bearers of your Association who will be discharging the relevant functions after the disqualifications of those who were the previous incumbents in terms of the order.” Indian Express understands that no state association has replied to Johri till date.

Junior selection committee set to lose members

The junior selection committee, like the senior panel is also set to lose personnel and will have to be pruned from five to three, as per the recommendations of the Lodha Committee. Jatin Paranjpe and Gagan Khoda are not Test capped and hence don’t meet the criteria to qualify for the senior panel but it will be interesting to see who will be removed from the junior committee as all five members meet the qualification norms.

As per Lodha Committee’s guidelines, junior selectors need to have the experience of 50 first class games or represented India in a Test or One-day International. Chairman of selection committee Venkatesh Prasad has represented India in 33 Tests, while another member Ashish Kapoor played four Test matches. Gynanendra Pandey has represented India in two ODIs whereas Amit Sharma and Rakesh Parikh have played 53 and 52 first class games respectively.

The India Under-19 side is scheduled to play visiting England U-19 in the last week of January. Coach Rahul Dravid also wants a camp to be conducted before the series. However, it is learnt, that Johri will seek clarification on the composition of the junior selection panel from the Lodha Committee. With regard to the senior selection committee, the BCCI has informed Paranjpe and Khoda that they won’t be allowed to continue and Johri will be meeting them shortly to terminate their contracts.